Wilton senior repeats as league champ

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Published 4:34 pm, Saturday, October 28, 2017

Photo: Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut Media

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Wilton Morgan McCormick sprints to a first place finish the FCIAC Girls Cross Country Championships at Waveny Park in New Canaan, Connecticut on Wednesday, Oct.18, 2017. McCormick cross the finish line with a time of 13:44.83. less

Wilton Morgan McCormick sprints to a first place finish the FCIAC Girls Cross Country Championships at Waveny Park in New Canaan, Connecticut on Wednesday, Oct.18, 2017. McCormick cross the finish line with a ... more

Photo: Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut Media

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Wilton Morgan McCormick, at right, takes the lead to a first place finish in the FCIAC Girls Cross Country Championships at Waveny Park in New Canaan, Connecticut on Wednesday, Oct.18, 2017. McCormick cross the finish line with a time of 13:44.83. less

Wilton Morgan McCormick, at right, takes the lead to a first place finish in the FCIAC Girls Cross Country Championships at Waveny Park in New Canaan, Connecticut on Wednesday, Oct.18, 2017. McCormick cross the ... more

Photo: Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut Media

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Wilton Morgan McCormick sprints across the finish line to a first place finish in the FCIAC Girls Cross Country Championships at Waveny Park in New Canaan, Connecticut on Wednesday, Oct.18, 2017. McCormick cross with a time of 13:44.83. less

Wilton Morgan McCormick sprints across the finish line to a first place finish in the FCIAC Girls Cross Country Championships at Waveny Park in New Canaan, Connecticut on Wednesday, Oct.18, 2017. McCormick ... more

Photo: Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut Media

Image 4 of 5

Wilton Morgan McCormick sprints across the finish line to a first place finish in the FCIAC Girls Cross Country Championships at Waveny Park in New Canaan, Connecticut on Wednesday, Oct.18, 2017. McCormick cross with a time of 13:44.83. less

Wilton Morgan McCormick sprints across the finish line to a first place finish in the FCIAC Girls Cross Country Championships at Waveny Park in New Canaan, Connecticut on Wednesday, Oct.18, 2017. McCormick ... more

Photo: Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut Media

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Wilton Morgan McCormick sprints to a first place finish the FCIAC Girls Cross Country Championships at Waveny Park in New Canaan, Connecticut on Wednesday, Oct.18.

Wilton Morgan McCormick sprints to a first place finish the FCIAC Girls Cross Country Championships at Waveny Park in New Canaan, Connecticut on Wednesday, Oct.18.

Photo: Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut Media

Wilton senior repeats as league champ

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NEW CANAAN — Wilton senior Morgan McCormick won the girls individual FCIAC title, winning the 4,000-meter race in an impressive time of 13:44.83 at Waveny Park on Tuesday.

It was McCormick’s second straight FCIAC title. She increased her lead during the race’s second mile and crossed the finish line all alone.

“I was nervous coming into it, I know a lot of the girls have been improving this year,” McCormick said. “I was just so excited to get a fast time. When I came out of the woods for the last 600 I wasn’t very tired. I love how this course is in the woods — it makes it a true cross country race.”

McCormick is looking forward to testing her skills at the state competition.

“I have not run a 5K race yet this season, so I’m excited to see my time in it,” McCormick said. “A lot of really fast girls are in the state, so I want to see how I do against them.”

The Warriors placed sixth overall with 152 points.

Emily Welch was Wilton’s No. 2 runner, finishing in 26th place at 16:03.46. Eliza Snyder was 29th in 16:08.64 and Paula Perez Pelaez was 32nd in 16:12.46.

In the boys race, Tyler Zengo was 48th as the Warriors top finisher. He was timed in 17:49.35.

Freshman Davis Cote was 54th in 17:59.95 while Flynn Crowther was 66th in 18:21.98. Right behind Crowther in 67th was Nicholas Ivanov in 67th with a time of 18:23 while Ryan Healey rounded out the Warriors scorers with a 71st place finish in 18:31.61.

Wilton was 10th out of 15 teams with 292 points.

Staples won the FCIAC title with 33 points, edging out Fairfield Warde’s 37.

Greenwich High School girls cross country coach Evan Dubin knew his team had the athletes in place to capture what it has chased for years — the FCIAC championship.

“Knowing who we had returning from last year’s successful season, we went into this season knowing we could do well with the goal of winning the FCIAC championship out there,” Dubin said following Wednesday’s FCIAC Girls Cross Country Championships at Waveny Park.

Placing three runners among the top 10 finishers and four in the top 13, the Cardinals claimed their long-awaited title, winning their first FCIAC championship since 1981 with a team score of 47 points. Danbury was the runner-up (54), followed by Trumbull (98).

“We were missing one of our top runners (Genevieve DeWinter) who has been injured all season, but we had enough depth and the other girls stepped up,” said Dubin, whose squad was the runner-up behind Ridgefield last season. “They all came through. I’m so happy and proud to see their hard work pay off.”

“Zoe has been a strong runner ever since she came into the program,” Dubin said. “We had a strategy for her to go out hard.”

Danbury junior Lauren Moore was the race’s runner-up, posting a time of 14:51.80.

“I’m ecstatic with my time,” Moore said. “It was a good course, the finish kind of feels like it goes on forever with the hill, which is challenging. But I’m really happy with my time and I’m so proud of my team. Everyone got a good time.”

“The last time we won the FCIAC championship was in 1981, so me being a senior and leading this team and this being my last FCIAC race was special,” McMillan said. “Our top four runners made all FCIAC, which is a really big accomplishment.”

Ridgefield junior Gabriella Viggiano was third overall, clocking in at 14:52.23.

“It’s been a hard season, we lost a lot of our top runners from last year, so I knew I had to run well to get the team where we were,” Viggiano said. “Last year was my first year in cross country, so it’s a little harder for me, since I’m more of a mid-distance runner.”

Keegan Simonsen, a Fairfield Ludlowe senior, took fifth in 15:02.14.

“I tried to stick with the pack as long as I could,” Simonsen said. “We went out pretty fast and about eight girls stayed together. Last year I was injured, I didn’t have a cross country season, so I’ve been running with a chip on my shoulder.”

Joining Simonsen in the top 15 were teammates Paige Davis and Lauren O’Neil. Davis was 11th (15:24.93) and O’Neil finished 15th.

The top 15 runners made First Team All-FCIAC and those finishing 16-30 made Second Team All-FCIAC.

“The season has gone really well for our team,” Davis said. “We only lost three meets, which is great for our team.”

Said O’Neil: “We have some great new freshmen on our team who really helped us. This was the best we have ever done at FCIACs, so we’re very proud.”

“It was our goal to get first, so we are all really proud of ourselves,” Philippides said. “It has been our goal for a long time. Today, I had a hard time getting out, but I felt better toward the end and was able to catch up.”